Early indications are that construction equipment likely caused the pipeline rupture near the village of Manning, according to a news release from the pipeline company.

An investigation into Saturday’s spill is ongoing and the affected section of pipeline is being removed to be analysed by a third-party firm.

More than 60 workers have been working around the clock at the spill site to remove fluids. Plains has conducted a wildlife assessment and says no wildlife impacts have been identified. Assessments will continue and mitigation measures will continue to be deployed.

The Kemp pipeline is described as a 79-kilometre system with a six-inch-wide pipe. The spill covers about 100 meters by 150 metres, or 1.5 hectares. By comparison, the recent Apache Canada pipeline spill in northwest Alberta spread salty industrial wastewater over 42 hectares.

It is not the first high-profile spill for Calgary-based Plains Midstream. In 2011, a pipeline spilled 28,000 barrels of oil northeast of Peace River, closing a school in the nearby community of Little Buffalo and creating health problems for people in the area. That spill cost $70 million to clean up. Last spring, another Plains Midstream incident saw 3,000 barrels of sour crude leaked into the Red Deer River system, a major source of drinking water in central Alberta.

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